[El Gato]

There is no such thing as a completely impartial commission when there is so much power and money at stake

True, but redistricting could just as easily be done by a computer program, with the rules agreed to ahead of time. But that would spoil all the fun of the state legislatures. It might be their only true function as things become increasinginly federalized.

If I made the rules they would be simple. No condiseration given to race or ethnicity, and the districts to be as geographically "connected" or compact as possible. I could probably even write the thing, given a bit of time and money. And if I couldn't, other folks at my workplace certainly could.

[William McKinley]

I know you could write such a program. But the software requirements (what to code to ensure fairness) would be determined by "impartial" people, and the data which would be fed into the system would be fed by "impartial" people, and the results would be subject to the whims of "impartial" state judiciaries, no matter how you crafted the law; just look at the kangaroo courts of New Jersey and Florida for confirmation of that.